Flying To You
by bloodstar
Summary: It's finally begun, World War III, and Tokyo was the first to go. In the midst of it all, Kai is lost and alone... [TyKa]
1. Flying To You

**Title: **Flying To You

**Author: **bloodstar aka superslothic

**Warning: **Yaoi. I'm telling you from now so you don't complain. Also some character death.

**Pairing: **Tyson/Kai. I repeat, yaoi, shonen-ai, slash, boy/boy, whatever you want to call it.

**Summary: **It has begun, World War III. In the midst of it all, Kai is lost and alone.

**Author's Note:** I will say from now that I don't know a damn thing about war or the military.

**Author's Note the second: **This is a Beyblade/Ghost in the Shell crossover, but it's so mild you won't even notice it's there, so no need to worry if you've never seen or read Ghost in the Shell. It occurs before their continuity anyway. Well, read and enjoy!

**FLYING TO YOU**

_April 2010_

Kai had never been one for cuddling, but at the moment, he was far too exhausted to bother pushing Tyson away. So for now he conceded to standing in Tyson's embrace, arms hanging limply at his sides, as Tyson led them in what he generously liked to refer to as a dance, but really was a sway that was so gentle it almost didn't exist. A soft, jazzy tune played on the stereo; a woman's whispery voice sang in French over a lazy bass line as something electronic whined in the background.

Tyson laid his head against Kai's shoulder, whispering the translations in his ear, as he did every time they listened to this song, in an absolutely absurd French accent. At least he didn't try to sing them; he had long since given in to the fact that he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. Kai personally thought it was horribly cheesy, but, for some reason, his lover loved to whisper it to him.

God only knew why Tyson even liked this song. It wasn't in his usual genre. Knowing him, it was some utterly ridiculous reason, like, because it was in the so-called language of love, or because it was the first French song he'd ever learned or something. Kai had asked once, but Tyson had just smiled at him and said, "Because it's true." And then Tyson had weaselled his way into Kai's arms and kissed him and that had been the end of that.

"Now, I see the love in your arms, so simply, so happily." Tyson sighed in contentment, arms tightening around him as the song dissolved into strings, bass and guitar. Kai could feel his happy grin against his neck and couldn't help but respond with a small smile of his own.

He was such a sap.

Kai leaned back slightly, raised Tyson's chin with his index finger and kissed him. It was a simple melding of mouths, soft and sweet, just feeling each other's presence. Then Kai's tongue darted out to taste that hidden warmth, and that soft kiss turned into something rough, desperate. Passionate, as everything was between them; from beybattles to kissing, from their shortest fights to their longest lovemaking sessions, everything they did together held an undercurrent of fire.

Tyson pulled away, breath coming in harsh pants, lips red and kiss-swollen, eyes wild and dark with lust. He threaded his fingers in Kai's hair and pulled lightly, licking a hot stripe up the length of his throat when he tilted his head back. Tyson pulled him roughly back towards the bed.

"Come fuck me, Kai."

Hours later and they lay each other's arms, sweaty and sated. Kai was on the brink of sleep, but Tyson's finger drawing lazy shapes on his chest kept pulling him back from the edge. He frowned, grabbing Tyson's hand without opening his eyes and linking their fingers so his lover would be still.

"Kai?"

He should've known he wouldn't leave him alone if he wasn't ready. He cracked an eye open and grunted. "What time is your flight tomorrow?" A subtle hint that came out more like an opening than he'd intended.

"Ten," Tyson answered, propping himself up on his elbows to hover over him. He smiled hopefully. "You coming to see me off?"

Kai closed his eye so he wouldn't have to see the disappointment in Tyson's. "Can't. Have a meeting at nine." The bed dipped as Tyson leaned closer and rubbed their noses together. Kai wrinkled his nose, leaned up to give him a peck on the lips instead. He peeled his eyes open. "Sleep. You have an early morning."

Tyson grinned. "Aw… is Kai-i-wai-i sleepy-weepy? Bad Ty-Ty for keeping Kai-baby awake."

Kai gave him a weak glare.

Tyson giggled. "Okay, okay, you're tired." He lay back down, running his other hand through Kai's bangs. "Your last exam's in two days, right?" At Kai's nod, he continued. "Promise you won't work yourself to death while I'm gone?"

Kai scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"I'm serious. I don't want to come back to a dead boyfriend! You better take care of yourself or else!" Tyson squeezed his hand, leaning up to glare at him a moment before settling down against Kai's side once more. "I don't know what I'd do if you went and died on me, Kai, so you better rest and eat your veggies and-"

"Shut up, Tyson," Kai sighed.

There was a pregnant pause. Then Kai felt warm lips on his shoulder. He smiled weakly, squeezing Tyson's hand back in response.

"You know I love you, right, Kai?"

"Mmph." Kai brushed a kiss over Tyson's head. "You, too. Now, go to sleep, Kinomiya."

* * *

Tyson reached over and switched off his alarm clock before it could go off. He resumed his position watching Kai sleep. It was an activity he had never really indulged in before. Prone to sleeping well into the afternoon as he was, he was rarely ever awake while Kai wasn't. 

Oddly enough, he hadn't been able to sleep at all that night. Why, he didn't know. He'd just had the strange urge to lay there and stare at the sleeping form of his lover, taking him all in, memorising him as if he'd never see him like this again. The sight had strangely kept him riveted. Several times in the course of the night he'd told himself that he'd watch for only a few minutes more before he made a _real_ effort to go to sleep, but that time never came.

Tyson brushed some hair out of Kai's face and trailed a finger down his cheek, getting only a sleepy murmur in response. He smiled. Kai was really cute like this.

Glancing at the digital clock on the bedside table –its neon numbers just changing to 7:03- Tyson bit his lip, torn between waking Kai so that they could spend these last few moments together before he had to leave for the airport and letting him sleep off the leftover exhaustion from yesterday. Tyson certainly hadn't helped by keeping him up half the night, either.

Tyson lowered himself over Kai and kissed him softly on the lips. Kai stirred, but still didn't wake.

"Man, you really were tired, huh?" Tyson murmured. He kissed him on the forehead. "Sleep, baby."

Tyson swung his legs out of bed and searched out his fuzzy slippers with his feet. Finding them and putting them on, he stood up and turned around to tuck the edges of the duvet snugly around Kai. Then he headed for the shower.

It didn't take him long to get dressed and by 7:30, he was ready to go. All of his luggage was loaded in the car, the driver was waiting for him outside and Kai was just gracing the land of the living with his presence. The first thing he saw was Tyson's face hovering inches over his, and before the cloud of sleep could fully abate, he was pulled into a deep kiss.

"Tyson…"

"I have to go now, Kai." Tyson kissed him again, pulling him as close as he could manage and holding on as if he would never feel him again. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Kai hugged him back. "Goodbye, Tyson."

"I'll see you in a week, right?"

"Yes."

"And you'll take care of yourself, right?"

Kai sighed, exasperatedly. "Yes."

"And you'll-"

Kai kissed him, distracting him from what he was going to say. When the kiss broke, Kai mated their foreheads together and Tyson closed his eyes. "Go catch your plane, Tyson. We'll be together in a week."

* * *

Kai nodded disinterestedly as the Chief Information Officer of Hiwatari Enterprises excused herself to the ladies' room, leaving him at the café table with his Chief Financial Officer, who was arguing with, or rather _at,_ the Head of Research and Development who, more than likely, was still day-dreaming about Zoya, Kai's personal assistant, who had been sent to pay the cheque. 

As CEO of his late-grandfather's company, Kai was often dragged out to these boring lunch meetings against his better judgement, during which his authority was questioned more than ever before. Kai hated attending them almost as much as his older employees hated taking orders from him. As much as he loathed it, however, he had already sworn to himself to keep an eye on the goings on in his company so that a rotten egg like Biovolt would never have a chance to hatch within its divisions ever again. He would not let his grandfather's evil legacy continue through old subordinates.

Still, somewhere not-very-deep inside him, Kai wished he could just leave whenever the mood hit him like he'd been able to when he was a teenager.

He kind of missed his old scarf, too, but some things just had to be let go.

As it was, he could still tune out his CFO's ranting just as easily as he'd tuned out Tyson's many friendship speeches back in the day. Some skills were just second nature. He pulled out his palm pilot, checking, not for the first time in the last twenty-four hours, the progression of Tyson's flight. He smiled. It had landed in Tokyo twenty-four minutes ago. He fished his cell phone out, knowing that Tyson had probably called him the second he stepped off the plane, frowning in disappointment when he found that he hadn't.

"Expecting a call, Hiwatari? Got a nagging wife at home, eh, I know how _that_ is," his CFO jibed.

Kai gave him a withering look. The man was lucky Kai didn't let personal favour rank above competence when it came to his employees, or else he would have found himself fired a long time ago. He stood without a word and walked out.

He caught Zoya's eye briefly as he passed the counter. She was listening to someone on her cell phone, looking slightly sick. He vaguely wondered about that as he walked out into the crisp April air. He leaned casually against the cold brick of the café entrance, watching the city of Moscow bustle around him as he wondered whether to call Tyson or not. He shook his head at himself, frowning. He wasn't usually this needy. He was the one always telling Tyson not to call ten times for every hour they were apart.

Something didn't feel right, though.

Making up his mind, he set his dignity aside and dialled the number. It felt like the phone took especially long to connect and when it did, it rang forever. As he waited, he stared absently at the television display in the electronics store across the street from the café.

His business associates joined him a moment later, his personal assistant looking worried. He was about to ask her what her problem was, when the images of cartoons and talk shows and soap operas on the multiple screens suddenly gave way to scenes of absolute devastation that stopped him in his tracks.

_It couldn't be_…

His feet mindlessly took him across the street. He didn't hear the screeching tires of a near-collision or the honking horns of the irate drivers he had just walked in front of or his personal assistant calling out to him as he made his way to the shop window like a zombie, ringing phone still clutched to his ear. He tried and tried to read it, but the Cyrillic letters in the closed captioning looked like no more than gibberish to him.

_It can't be… _

But that piece of building poking out of the sea was so familiar. It looked so like Tokyo Tower, but he really, really hoped he was wrong and that was the Eiffel Tower and the city under all that water and smoke and fire was Paris. Then the footage on the screen changed to what was obviously Tokyo City Hall, and he knew that his original thought was correct.

His hands began to shake, his eyes going wide. He dropped the phone, the persistent ring still echoing in his mind.

_Tyson…_

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and suddenly everything came back into focus. The sounds on the street returned as if bursting through a tunnel, his personal assistant's soft voice was talking in his ear and the Cyrillic was suddenly readable.

Zoya's words finally registered the same moment the words written on the screen started to make sense.

"A nuclear bomb was dropped on Tokyo ten minutes ago," she said, rubbing his arm with a familiarity she had never shown before. "I'm sorry, Kai."

"Tyson," he whispered, feeling tears prick at the back of his eyes.

"…watari. Hiwatari!" his CFO's annoying voice came next. "You alright in there?"

He felt lost, like the ground just fell away him, leaving him floating in the abyss. He could faintly feel Dranzer trying to comfort him in his mind, but her efforts were lost in the void.

Zoya was suddenly standing in front of him, looking concerned and pale. "Do you need medical assistance, Mr. Hiwatari?" When he didn't answer, she touched his arm again. "Kai?"

He shook his head, brushing her away; he steeled himself from the inside out, his cold mask coming out like second nature to hide his breaking heart within.

He straightened his posture and turned away from her, lifting his chin regally as he walked past her.

"I'm fine," he said, and he was sure she would have believed him if his voice hadn't cracked.


	2. Rise

**RISE**

_December 2013_

Sometimes he thought that the conscription summons he had received in the mail one week after Tyson's death, on the very day he would have left to join him in Japan, was a godsend. At a time when he was drifting in a sea of emotion rough enough to drown him, the option of falling back on the harsh militaristic training that had rendered him so numb at the Abbey was a welcome reprieve.

As a soldier, he only had to think and do; he didn't have to feel.

As a soldier, he wouldn't have the time to let the grief swallow him; his tears would have to wait until the war ended or he was incapacitated or until he was relieved of his duties, and by then the pain would be far enough behind him that he wouldn't drown.

Or so he had hoped.

It was on days like these, however, when he was knee deep in mud, his Captain cradled in his arms with the pouring rain washing away their shared pool of blood, that he felt that it just wasn't worth it.

It had been an ambush, one that they had barely managed to turn to their advantage. They had won this battle, but at what cost?

Staring into Tala's deathly pale face, Kai resisted the urge to check his pulse once more and struggled to his feet. The gunshot wound in his left thigh protested, but he ignored it. Tala's body flopped limply in his arms, the dead weight threatening to drag him down to his knees, but he straightened further and moved forward, adrenaline and pure determination the only thing keeping him going.

His few surviving comrades gaped either at him as he limped towards the medical tent in the distance or at the bloodbath that surrounded them. This was a victory that probably wouldn't make the history books, but would forever stain the memories of these remaining soldiers. Kai steeled himself some more as he hobbled over the last few feet standing between him and the medical unit.

A medic ran out to meet him, motioning to take Tala away from him, but a deadly glare changed his mind and he opted to precede him to the tent instead.

The medical tent was pure chaos. Surprisingly left unscathed, the medics ran from cot to cot marking soldiers for medication or death or impending death. Kai blocked a medic that came at Tala with one of those dreaded black markers.

"Sir…" The medic gestured helplessly at the gaping wound that cut through the centre of Tala's back. They could see his spine through his belly. That Tala was still breathing at all was a miracle that the medic wasn't optimistic about lasting. Any medical treatment he could perform would be too little too late. The medic wanted to tell him so, but he was young and easily scared by Kai's glare.

"Patch him up," Kai ordered. By sheer force of will, he managed to mask his collapse as a graceful kneel. The burning in his leg extended from the wound all the way up his thigh towards his back and down to his toes. The blood oozing from the wound felt slimy and disgusting against his skin. It suddenly occurred to him that he might bleed to death right here as he waited for Tala to wake up and order them around. Without a second thought, he ripped a sleeve from his uniform and tied it tightly around his thigh above the wound, glaring a warning as the medic made to protest. The other man quickly went back to treating Tala.

A cursory glance around the tent told him that, next to Tala, he was the highest ranking officer without a black mark on his forehead. The frazzled Sergeant hurrying over to him was a clue that he was the highest ranking officer on point.

Kai nodded a greeting as the man saluted him, not bothering to stand up because he wasn't sure he _could_.

"The area is clear, sir. What are your orders?"

"Report to base," he said. "Get some choppers out here. Gather the… dead in one place. Collect the dog tags."

"Yes, sir." The Sergeant saluted again and hurried off to carry out his orders.

Kai turned back to the medic in time to see him getting reamed out by another medic for wasting time and supplies on a lost cause. Kai heaved himself to his feet, put on his best formidable look and stalked over to impose his will.

He had already lost Tyson to this stupid war. He'd lost Spencer and Ian to battle. They hadn't heard from Bryan in _months. _He could not lose Tala too.

He would not lose Tala.


	3. Smashing Blue

**SMASHING BLUE**

Sometimes, he dreamt of the world championships, about that time when their battle had taken them to another world where it was only them and the stars and planets that hung in the dark, night sky. Where the universe stopped just so they could hold on to that perfection for just a moment longer.

In his dream, he'd open his eyes and see his lover again, looking just as he'd seen him the last time; content and peaceful, sweat glistening on his naked body like stars at twilight.

In his dream, his lover reached out and touched his face. And at that first contact, the universe would speed ahead; the stars would smash through the midnight blue sky, leaving golden streaks that bled tiny sparkles of light and the planets would spin off into space in a majestic waltz.

But they would stare into each other's eyes and he would be drawn into the alluring crimson…

As he lay on his side, staring blankly into inky darkness, he wished he were still in that dream.


	4. Rock is Dead

**ROCK IS DEAD**

He'd heard that a return from the field due to injury was bittersweet, but for him, it was all bitter.

He limped into his mansion, relying far more than he liked on a cane far too similar to his grandfather's for his taste. His servants' warm greetings and glad tidings fell upon ears that rushed with only the sound of dying screams, gunfire and the beating of his broken heart. Just being in his mansion brought the old pain rushing back to the surface to mingle with new pain and crush him under the weight.

His breath hitched at the top of the stairs when the master bedroom came into view, and he almost stopped, but he just about managed to make it smoothly to the door without much outwards hesitation and with very little indication of the real pain that wracked him, whether from his leg or his heart, beyond the impossibly tight clenching of his fist around the top of his cane.

With the heavy oak blocking all prying eyes, Kai slumped against the ornately carved door, sullenly surveying his room. He had avoided returning here as much as possible over the past three and a half years and it was still almost exactly as he had left it the first time. The only difference was that the bed was made and the surfaces had obviously been dusted. He suspected that even after all this time the left side of the bed would still smell like Tyson. He hoped it would, anyway.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed away from the door and crossed the room to the false wall in the far right corner. He opened the hidden panel and stepped into a bright, sunlit room. With its huge skylight, soft, white carpeted floors and pale blue walls, it was easily the brightest room in the whole house. That its only entrance was that fake wall in his room and its only window was on the roof meant that it was mostly hidden from the outside world. The only other people who knew it was here, besides the head butler, were either dead or missing or… currently in a coma.

Kai sighed, limping past all the neatly arranged glass cases full of older versions of Dranzer and Dragoon and a few others of his friends' blades that he'd collected over the years, to the large painting of the Bladebreakers on the back wall. He'd had it made after the BEGA fiasco years ago; the only one of them who even knew he had it was Tyson. The extravagant carvings on the golden frame hid four tiny buttons on the bottom of either side. Pressed in a certain pattern, the frame unsealed a part of the wall, behind which hid a safe.

Kai reached into his pocket and retrieved a bit-chip stained a brownish-red. He brushed his thumb over the picture in the centre. Wolborg. He smiled sadly when it flashed blue in recognition. Reverently, he lined it up next to the two other bit-chips that lay on the middle shelf: Seaborg and Wyborg.

Above them, on the top shelf of the safe, were two beyblades, one blue and one white: Dranzer and Dragoon. He picked up his Dranzer, his phoenix glowing red in greeting. The blade grew warm in his hand and his smile turned marginally less morose.

"Hello, my friend," he murmured to the bit-chip and it glowed just a little brighter. Dranzer: Always his protector, always his friend.

In a world where everything he'd taught himself to be true constantly collapsed around him and reformed in warped, messy angles that he'd have to relearn, Kai had found that there were two constants that kept him going, two beings that held him together.

The first was Dranzer, his oldest friend. She was the stars that burned in the dark skies of his mind, guiding him along the way so that he could see the encroaching darkness and not get lost on its destructive path. She was the flame that kept his body and mind alive.

The second was Tyson, his friend, his lover. He was the solid ground that kept the dark waters at bay, the warmth that held him safe as he rested his guard. Tyson was the pure oxygen that fanned Dranzer's flame into the raging inferno that powered his heart and soul.

Together, they kept him aloft in a sea of darkness. But now…

Now, Tyson was lost to him. Forever gone in the seconds it took for that atomic bomb to obliterate Tokyo. Kai remembered watching the news that day through the window of an electronics store in Moscow; seeing the satellite images of the charred edges of Japan's new bay, feeling the warm, solid ground collapsing beneath him and the oxygen ripping away from him, leaving him floating in the nothingness above the sucking black hole where his heart used to be, his crystalline tears shimmering in Dranzer's waning light.

Still, he stupidly held on to some hope that maybe Tyson had survived. That maybe that fool had missed his connecting flight in Munich and wasn't even in Japan in the first place. Tyson couldn't be dead, he'd convinced himself, and that was almost enough to get him through an entire work day. That is, until he got home and came into this room, looked into the bit-chip of one of Tyson's old blades and saw Dragoon staring back at him. That the dragon spirit had returned to an old blade spoke volumes about the state of his current bit-chip; it had to have been destroyed. And for Dragoon's bit-chip, which Tyson had taken to wearing on a gold chain around his neck, to be destroyed…

The conclusion had finished crushing what was left of Kai's heart.

The confirmation from the airline that a Tyson Kinomiya had gotten on the plane in Munich cremated the remains.

Kai was falling fast into the encroaching darkness, but Dranzer pulled him up and took him back into her orbit, the same one he'd had before he'd met that loud-mouthed, beautiful lover of his. An orbit that had never felt so empty and cold. She would have warmed him if he asked, would have done it regardless, but he never let her.

He answered his conscription summons and joined the Russian army in an effort to regain that numbness he had mastered early on in life. He accepted only her spark to keep him running, but used the void where Tyson had been to keep himself sharp and focussed.

It had been over three years now since Tokyo was destroyed, two since World War III had gotten into full swing, and Kai still felt cold. He hadn't warmed and he'd barely numbed.

Kai picked up Dragoon for the first time in three years. He wasn't sure if he felt better or worse for having touched the beast. On one hand, the dragon made him feel closer to his only love; on the other, it reminded him that Tyson was lost to him forever.

His rock was dead.

Kai had never been one for cuddling, but at that moment, he found himself wrapping his arms around himself, Dragoon in one hand and Dranzer in the other, wishing that it was Tyson holding him.

His eyes closed and a tear fell.

* * *

Kai awoke to the sound of a knock on his bedroom door. He had somehow ended up in his bed, huddled under the duvet, face buried in Tyson's pillow and two beyblades clutched tightly in his hands. He didn't even remember leaving his secret room. Reluctantly, Kai crawled out of his warm bed, stuffing the blades in his pants pockets before he opened the door. His butler, Ilya, was waiting on the other side.

"Master Kai," the butler greeted with a small bow. "Master Tala has arrived." The old man didn't mention the state his friend arrived in and Kai didn't need him to. He'd been in a coma when Kai left him at the military hospital and probably would be for the rest of his life, if those doctors could be believed. They had been far too excited upon discovering that Tala was cybernetic to be trusted. Kai suspected that they'd exaggerated his condition so that he would give the okay for them to "study" Tala.

Kai would rather Tala sleep forever in his house than let him become someone's experiment again.

"Was a nurse sent with him?" Kai asked, stepping out of his room and gesturing for Ilya to lead the way.

"Yes, sir," he said. Kai grunted his approval. The butler stopped in front of a guest room door and continued, "Sir, there is also another guest here to see you." Kai raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Kuznetsov, sir."

Kai froze with his hand on the doorknob, blinking in surprise. "Bryan?"

"Yes, Master Kai. He awaits you in the drawing room."

"I see. Thank you, Ilya."

* * *

A pale, lilac-haired man was sprawled out on his couch when he entered the front drawing room.

"You're alive," he stated dryly.

"So are you," Bryan sneered. Then he gestured up the stairs with his head. "How's Tal?"

Kai shook his head, letting the silence speak for itself.

"We have a way to help him," Bryan announced, getting straight to the point.

"Who's 'we'?"

"Got recruited by the United Nations Army a few months back. Covert ops, that's why you haven't heard from me." He pulled out a bundle of papers from his inside breast pocket and handed them to Kai.

He skimmed over the documents.

"Prosthetics?"

"That operation Boris did on Tala that made him cyber was a first step towards this. The freak didn't know what he was on to back then, but we can use it to save Tala. We just have to finish the job."

"You're working for Boris?"

"No," Bryan scoffed, producing a manila folder out of nowhere and handing it to Kai. "But you're working with him."

Kai started at that. Skimming the contents of the folder, he cursed under his breath. If this information was true, then the Russian government had hired Boris as the head of research and development of full-body prosthetics for use in military applications.

"He's back at it," Bryan continued. "And from what my sources gather, he doesn't go through strictly legal channels when rounding up guinea pigs."

"Unbelievable," Kai muttered.

Bryan nodded, solemnly. "They still put trust in that bastard after all he's done. All because they want to catch up with Japan's tech." He gestured to the first set of papers he'd given Kai. "There aren't many full cyborgs out yet. The procedure's still experimental. So far, there've only been four or five successful full-body prosthetics made."

Kai dropped the folder in disgust and unfolded the bundle of papers again. The top few were detailed explanations of the procedure and diagrams of prosthetic bodies already made. The rest looked like legal papers.

"You want me to sign Tala over to your people." It was a statement, more than a question.

"That, and join us when you've healed." Bryan folded his arms over his chest, smirking. "So, what'll it be, Kai? Ready to switch teams?"


	5. Superhero

**SUPERHERO**

_February 2015_

Why Boris always chose to hole up in dark, dank religious buildings, Kai would never understand.

He lowered his binoculars and glared into the distance, lost in thought.

He couldn't say that being in the UN Army was much different to being in the Russian army. Military was military as far as he was concerned. It didn't matter to him which way the wind blew; he didn't really care who he was fighting or what for. But somehow, this mission had given him more of a sense of purpose than all his previous ones.

Probably because he was fighting Boris, someone who had wronged him directly, someone Tyson would have wanted him to fight instead of some nameless, faceless enemy.

Kai leapt down from his surveillance point, gestured for another soldier to take point, and then walked off, reaching into his pants pockets to retrieve Dranzer and, with a little hesitation, Dragoon. He stared contemplatively at the bit-chips as they caught the waning sunlight. They felt oddly excited all of a sudden.

He shrugged. Maybe they were just happy to get out; neither had seen battle in almost five years.

"What ya got there?" Tala asked, peering curiously over his shoulder. "Oh."

Kai glared at him, shoving Dragoon back into his pocket.

Tala fished out his own blade and held it out before him.

"I think they sense something we don't," Tala commented.

Kai nodded. "Dragoon especially," he replied, though he honestly wouldn't know the difference since he had never bladed with Dragoon before.

There was a long pause.

He was glad Tala didn't ask him why he'd brought Tyson's old blade because frankly, he didn't know why. It just felt right. Tyson would want to be right there with him when he kicked Boris' ass. Maybe bringing Dragoon was the next best thing. The three former Blitzkrieg Boys had agreed to bring their beyblades to this mission, for old times' sakes. Tyson would have had a good laugh at their being so damn sentimental. Kai squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get Tyson out of his mind. Now wasn't the time. Now, he had to focus on bringing Boris down.

"Kai," Tala started slowly. "You don't think-"

Just then, their radios crackled as their leader, Lieutenant General Aramaki, called them to regroup. One of the lookouts had spotted Boris entering the old abandoned church.

Tala grinned at him.

It was time.

* * *

Once, one of the soldiers had snuck a radio into the base, and whatever station he'd been listening to had played their song.

He sat and listened, remembering their time together, all the times where he'd whispered those lyrics in his ear.

He imagined that they'd had longer. That he'd passed his language degree and his lover had passed his business thingie, and they'd travelled together around the world again to celebrate. This time, they visited other non-beyblading related places because he could actually understand more of the languages. They didn't have to divide their attention between competitions and team mates. They had each other all to themselves.

And they were happy in that dream.

But then the song had ended and he woke up from his daydream, disoriented because it had all felt so real and _why wasn't it real? _Why was he still trapped here in this reality?

"Let me go," he whimpered, not for the first time, staring helplessly up into the night sky.

But there was no one to help him.

Boris had stopped feeding him a long time ago, but he didn't really care.

He wasn't hungry, but with every week that passed, he would feel more and more tired, his joints more sluggish and sometimes it got to the point where he couldn't even move and those times weren't that good at all.

But it was better than when Boris _did_ feed him, because then he would force him to do some kind of mission for him as repayment.

He hated working for Boris and he knew that Boris was only doing it to torture him, because of all those times that he had screwed up his plans for world domination in the past. He would've escaped already, except Boris had threatened him with Kai's life.

And he would rather be a slave to Boris forever than do anything to hurt Kai.

Sometimes he wondered what Kai was doing now. Big dope was probably working like a mad person to be the best CEO Russia had ever seen, making all his opponents lose their hair with stress. He always chuckled at that thought. His imaginary now-Kai dug out his old scarf and face-paint and left all the other gajillionaires shaking in their boots with his glare of doom. And then, when they peed their pants in fear, he'd smirk, snort, then turn and walk away, scarf flapping behind him all dramatic-like.

And then now-Kai would come home to him and he'd peel that scarf off him and they'd make mad passionate love all night and the stars would fall for them.

He sighed to himself, staring into the darkness of his cell.

He didn't think Kai would like who he was now. Being trapped with Boris for so long… Boris turned him into someone he wasn't. The darkness he lived with day to day sucked the life out of him.

Hilary had told him some bullshit about auras once. She said that a happy person like him would have an aura that was almost blinding to those who could see it.

He didn't think that assessment was true now -not that he'd thought that aura stuff was true _at all- _but sometimes, he pretended he could close his eyes and imagined that his aura still shone as brightly, that it burned just like Dranzer, or maybe just glowed like Dragoon did sometimes, because if anybody would have a burning aura, it would be Kai. And then he imagined that Kai came to get him and that he still loved him because he was still Tyson.

But then, the vision would fade away and it would be dark again, and his hope would die just a little more.

He wanted to go home.

* * *

Tala swore so loudly and fluently that no one could claim that his time spent in the military was wasted.

Kai agreed with every word.

They'd managed to clear the place out, but no Boris. The son of a bitch had somehow managed to escape. Again.

Now, all that was left was a bank of computers, which Aramaki was now in the process of downloading and wiping, and a handful of torture labs. The grounds were being swept for prisoners by the other members of the unit. There was really nothing much the remaining members of the Blitzkrieg Boys to do.

Finally, Aramaki finished with his hacking and stepped back from the computer. He nodded at them. "Destroy the hard drives."

"With pleasure," Tala said, but instead of his gun, he raised his beyblade and launcher. He smirked at Kai and Bryan. "For old times sake?"

They both took out their blades, but Kai hesitated after locking Dranzer into place. Catching Tala's eye, he nodded, launching Dranzer first, and then locking Dragoon into place while she awaited instruction on the floor.

"3…"

"2…"

"1…"

"Let it rip!"

"Go Wolborg!"

"Falborg!"

"Dranzer and Dragoon!"

Three beyblades shot through the metal plating of the computer banks and wreaked havoc inside. The fourth surprisingly sped up the wall, flipped over and shot up the hallway as soon as it hit the ground.

The three men stared after it, astonished.

"The fuck?"

Kai summoned Dranzer back to his hand and ran after Dragoon.

* * *

He curled into himself as an ominous pounding sounded from the other side of the door. He fought a whimper as each thud became louder and more forceful, until the entire door was shaking on its hinges.

Then, suddenly, it stopped.

And there was a muffled yell that sounded a lot like "Go Dragoon!"

A pale white glow shimmered under the door crack as a loud, familiar roar reverberated through the room. Before he knew what was happening, a large blue dragon was barrelling through the door, dragging with it a small, white beyblade.

The dragon looked directly at him and with a triumphant roar, dissipated into pale blue sparks and returned to his bit-chip. The beyblade circled around a few times before jumping up into his hand like it had never left.

There was a silhouette in the now-open doorway. Backlit by the hallway lights, he looked like some kind of superhero.

The figure stepped inside the cell, digging out a flashlight from somewhere and shining it in his face. The figure –a man- gasped.

"Tyson?"

And when he spoke, Tyson knew that he was going home at last.

"Kai!"

* * *

"That is fucking creepy," Bryan announced over the hum of the jet's engines, pointing at the lump in Kai's lap.

"Shut it, you big baby," Tala barked. "I'm working on it."

Kai ignored them both, continuing to stare half in disbelief, half in worry at Tyson's face with tear-blurred eyes, tenderly stroking his navy-blue hair away from his wide open doll eyes.

"Can't you close them?" Bryan complained.

"How the fuck did you make it so far in the army if you can't handle a little staring?"

"In covert ops, you don't watch us, we watch you."

"Get off it. Somebody's probably watching us. Aramaki's always fucking watching us."

"Whatever, Tala." Bryan crossed his arms and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, still staring into Tyson's blank eyes. "You gonna close 'em or what?"

"I can't close them, all right?" Tala snapped, angrily. "They don't close. Leave it to Boris to do such a bang-up botch-job. Kid's built like a Barbie doll."

"Is he going to be alright?" Kai asked quietly, the first thing he'd said since they'd left Boris's base. He wasn't sure what he would do if he lost Tyson again at this point. For five years he'd thought his lover was dead, that he'd lost him forever, only to discover that Boris had had him all along. That he was being experimented on by, essentially, the same government Kai had been fighting for.

He'd said his name, just like he had many times before, with that same reverence that made Kai feel like the most important person in the world. His heart soared.

But then moments later, Tyson's whole body jerked and pitched forward. Kai wasn't fast enough to catch him before he landed flat on his face. His soaring heart plummeted again, lodging in his throat and staying there until now.

Tala sighed, and rested a hand on his shoulder. "He's fine. You have my word," he said, as comfortingly as Tala could possibly manage before his patience ran out. "Now shut the fuck up, both of you, so I can turn him on again!"


	6. Crowded Elevator

**CROWDED ELEVATOR**

He couldn't help but feel self-conscious. Suddenly everybody in the elevator had x-ray vision. The puppet-like joints in his knees and elbows were showing through the thick fabric of his dark grey jeans and red jacket; his eyes were glowing in circuits and green Matrix-numbers. He shifted uncomfortably, and re-adjusted his old baseball cap restlessly, eyes darting between the other thirteen bodies crowded around him, _feeling _their stares on him even though he couldn't see them doing it.

He bit his lip –it felt almost like flesh, but not quite- and stared pleadingly at the number display above the doors of the crowded elevator, wishing for it to go faster. With a lazy, mocking ding, it hit the twentieth floor and opened its doors, releasing three people and letting on four more. Tyson whined low in his throat.

He turned to the barest of touches on his left hand, to find Kai staring reassuringly down at him, a slight smile on his face.

He leaned closer and murmured lowly, "Only fourteen floors to go. Relax, Kinomiya."

But he didn't _feel_ like a Kinomiya. He didn't feel like a Tyson. He felt like Project XG9 with a side of freakshow.

Kai's hand squeezing his, though. He could feel that, and it felt good.

As the elevator stopped on another floor, Tyson studied Kai from the corner of his eye. Kai looked so much older now. So much older than him, even though they were the same age. There were new lines on his face. His cheeks, now without the face-paint of yore, were more defined. He had small wrinkles around his mouth and between his eyebrows from scowling so much. He seemed taller, though Tyson was sure he was the same height he was when they had been separated almost five years prior. It was probably because Tyson himself was now in a body that looked like he had when they had first met almost _fifteen_ years ago. Talk about weird. That damn Boris had some serious issues, and that was only half of it; he was as evil as they came.

The elevator finally stopped on their floor and they stepped off into an empty corridor. Kai moved swiftly and quietly next to him, but Tyson swore he could hear his prosthetic body clanking and whirring with every step like some bad eighties sci-fi movie, echoing loudly in the hallway.

Kai seemed to notice his hesitance and waited for him to catch up before taking off again at a slower, more sedate pace, one hand resting gently at the small of his back. It was more consideration than Tyson was used to from Kai and it made him feel even worse.

The conference room they entered had a large ceiling-to-floor window at the back overlooking the ever-growing New Tokyo. Light from the midday sun fought hard against the harsh fluorescent lighting. Sitting around the large circular conference table at the centre of the room were four people, only one of whom he definitely recognised, another he thought looked vaguely familiar.

"Tala!" Tyson exclaimed. "How ya doin', bud?"

"Tyson," Tala greeted, crossing his arms and legs and leaning back in his chair. "Kai."

Kai nodded at him, closing the door behind them and leading him to the two remaining chairs near the front of the room. The other three occupants stood and bowed politely at them as they took their seats; Tala stayed sitting where he was.

Tyson tensed in surprise as he suddenly felt two arms clamp tightly around him.

"Tyson! I'm so glad you're alright!" The man pulled away just as abruptly as he'd latched onto him and held him by the shoulders at arms length, eying him up and down. "You look exactly as I remember! …That's kinda weird, but that doesn't matter with people like us. Say, do you still blade?"

"D-do I know you?" Tyson asked.

"You don't remember me?" The man was crestfallen. He released Tyson's shoulders slowly; head down, his long bangs hiding the hurt in his wide green eyes, as he fiddled with the ends of his waist-length aquamarine coloured hair.

Tyson glanced over at Kai, distressed. Kai just rolled his eyes at the man.

"He just doesn't recognise you," he said. "Idiot." Tyson couldn't be sure who Kai was referring to then. "It's Zeo, Tyson."

Tyson's eyes widened. "Zeo!" No wonder the man looked so familiar! He now had a foot or two on Tyson's current form. His body was more built, his face was a little more mature and his voice was much deeper, but the eyes were the same as those of the little squirt that had been so excited to meet him all those years ago.

Tyson crushed him in a hug, recognition now setting in, and Zeo returned it with as much fervour. His friends were returning to him one by one. Next, they would probably spring The Chief or Hilary on him! And they'd all look older than him, too. Tyson somewhat resented that.

But Zeo was an android! How did he manage to age at all?

He asked him, with as little tact as ever.

"That's why we brought you here," said an older man Tyson was pretty sure he'd never seen before. The man was small in stature, with a rapidly receding hairline and a face like an ape. His grey eyes were sharp and calculating.

Tala smirked at him. "How would you like a new body?"

Tyson sat there in a few moments of shocked silence.

Zeo bounced excitedly beside him. "I've already started constructing the shell. It'll be awesome! It's a good thing Kai had some pictures of you from when you were already all grown up or else I'd have to make your face up!"

A dark haired middle-aged looking man with glasses spoke calmly over Zeo's babbling. "Believe it or not, he's our number one specialist in the construction of prosthetic bodies." He gestured to Tala. "This young man is a fine specimen of his work."

Tyson boggled. "_You_ Tala?"

"Got a problem with it?" He uncrossed his arms and legs and leaned forward with his elbows on the table.

"N-no! It's just… I didn't even notice!"

Zeo beamed at that as Tala chuckled.

"It takes a bit of controlling, as I'm sure you've had to figure out," he said, gesturing to Tyson's own prosthetic body. But his looked absolutely primitive compared to Tala's! "You'll get used to it soon enough. I'll be there to help with your physical therapy."

Ape-face stood up. "We'll give you a few minutes to decide."

The room quickly emptied, leaving Tyson alone with Kai.

Kai was staring at him critically. "Are you okay?"

Tyson flung himself into Kai's arms. "It's all so much! First I'm trying to catch my plane in Germany, then Boris _kidnaps_ me and takes my brain out and puts it in this oversized doll and then locks me up and makes you not love me anymore and…"

"Tyson," Kai said, calmly. "Shut up. Who says I don't love you?"

Tyson pulled away, twiddling his thumbs. "Well… y'see…"

Kai cupped his cheek and tilted his head up. "I love you, no matter what body you're in." And he leaned in and pecked him lightly on the lips. Tyson pouted and demanded a longer kiss than that as proof. Kai snorted. "Maybe when you're older."

* * *

"See you on the other side." Zeo's encouraging words and the light brush of Kai's lips against his forehead were the last things he remembered before he succumbed to the darkness.

Then suddenly he was jolted awake by a hard spank on the ass.

Tala's smirking face was the first thing he saw. "It lives," he said, as he detached some kind of cable from the back of his neck and peered into his eyes as if searching for something. "How's the vision going?" Without waiting for a reply, he attached the cable to the back of Tyson's neck, his eyes unfocussing for a moment, before he nodded in satisfaction and unplugged himself. "Everything looks good, doc."

Tyson could faintly hear Zeo in the background protesting that all his bodies were good as Tala asked how he was feeling.

"It's done?" he croaked. His voice sounded the same as ever, at least.

The doctor appeared behind Tala, making notes on his clipboard. "Everything's done. We just have to detach you from the machinery and you should be good to go." The doctor smiled reassuringly at him over the top of his clipboard, before disappearing behind Tyson's back to do just that.

It was an odd sensation, having a multitude of wires being pulled out of various ports along his spine, then to be stood up on limbs that he thought should feel foreign to him –as they had only been attached to him a few minutes ago- but strangely didn't. They felt as much a part of him as his old, flesh-and-blood body. He didn't know if he felt more or less disoriented by that.

The doctor was in front of him again, breaking him from his train of thought. He allowed himself to be led to an examination table and sat down.

"Now, can you make a fist for me?" he asked, demonstrating as if Tyson had never made a fist before. Tyson complied. "Good."

They went on like this for what seemed like hours, testing reflexes and muscle response and his sense receptors.

Finally the doctor stepped back, seemingly satisfied and left him to Tala and Zeo's care, promising to send Kai in after him.

"Speaking of Kai…" Tala leaned closer to him and nudged him on the side, grinning wickedly at him. "I had Zeo put in a little something extra for you." He threw a lecherous wink in his direction as Kai walked in. "Trust me. You'll thank me."

Somehow, that worried him more than anything else he could have thought of.

Kai stood in front of him, eyes flickering over every inch of his face, and Tyson bit his lip, starting to feel nervous. Then Kai gave a satisfied "Hn," and suddenly, Tyson felt better.

And then Kai leaned in and kissed him. Long, soft and sweet, and Tyson felt a _lot_ better after that.


	7. Unaffected

Well, here's the final chapter of Flying To You. It's been cleaned up a bit as per the conditions on this site, but if you want the full version you can check it out on the homepage in my profile, though, really, you're not missing much.

I want to send a big thank you to my lovely reviewers, _KrymsonDranzer_ and _Ice Princess 666585_. You put me in such a happy mood during the dreaded coursework season. :D But enough about me, onwards with the story.

**UNAFFECTED**

When Kai finally switched off the television with a derisive snort, Tyson was still staring morosely at his new hands, flexing and curling them, frowning at them with his new face.

"They're idiots," Kai said, leaning over Tyson on the bed. He didn't look up at him.

Kai wondered what the hell Boris had done to his Tyson. The old Tyson would have never let a few protestors on TV bother him. The old Tyson was used to the idea of people being not-exactly-human by the time he was thirteen years old, back when Tala was first cyberised. Why couldn't he accept it of himself?

"You know I love you, right?" Kai asked softly, brushing back Tyson's navy-blue bangs from his forehead. He smiled when Tyson's eyes snapped up to his.

There was a lengthy stretch of silence, then, "Everything's different all of a sudden."

"No, it's not," Kai said. "It's exactly the same."

"No, it's not! I'm a _freak_ now! A freaking _robot_!" Tyson exclaimed. He sat up suddenly, almost smacking Kai in the chin, and turned his back to him. He had his head bowed, staring at his hands in his lap, watching the fingers flex. He clenched them into a fist and whispered, "Those people on the TV are right."

"Is Tala a freak?" Kai asked. "Or Zeo? Were you lying back then when you told them they weren't?"

Tyson shook his head slowly and Kai hummed thoughtfully as he hugged him from behind. Tyson's body was warm and solid, but not hard; if Kai didn't know any better, he wouldn't doubt that Tyson was all human. Zeo had done a good job on his prosthetic. He buried his nose in Tyson's hair and took a deep breath. He frowned; they'd definitely have to do something about that new car smell, though.

"Then why are you a freak?" he murmured against Tyson's neck, making sure his lips brushed against his synthetic skin with every word. "I never took you for a hypocrite, Kinomiya."

Tyson shuddered, leaning back into his embrace, and Kai almost grunted at the weight, but just about managed to keep it in, knowing that wouldn't help with Tyson's sudden drop in self-esteem.

And if he hadn't already had plans on doing it, he was definitely ready to kill Boris the next time he saw him for doing this to Tyson. Slowly and painfully. Then he would remove his cyber-brain, put him in a new prosthetic body and start the torture again, with all the pain sensors on triple blast. He should have done it a long time ago.

Kai kissed Tyson's shoulder and held him closer.

Tyson dropped his head back against his shoulder and nuzzled his neck, and Kai was surprised to find tear tracks on his cheeks. Tyson opened his eyes as Kai wiped them away with his thumb. He showed him the wetness.

"At least it's fully functional," he said, and Tyson laughed. It was strained, but it was still a laugh. Kai kissed his lips, trailing his hand down Tyson's stomach until his fingers teased the drawstring of his pyjama pants. "Maybe we should see how functional it is."

There was no mistaking his suggestive tone, but just to be sure, as his lover could be quite dense sometimes, he ventured lower, cupping his groin and giving it a firm squeeze.

Tyson gasped, and Kai wasted no time in capturing his lips with his own, tongue plundering the unexplored territory of his mouth eagerly. The strangled moan that escaped Tyson's throat pleased Kai greatly; the hardening flesh under his palm pleased him even more.

Tyson reached back with his right arm to bury his hand in Kai's hair, pulling him ever closer. The position was uncomfortable, but neither of them cared.

That spark, the flame that had been smouldering after finally finding Tyson, that heat that had been all but dead for the years they had been apart suddenly ignited, rising steadily to its old intensity and then some. When they finally came together, Kai felt more complete than he ever had in years.

His universe was whole, and he never wanted to lose that feeling ever again.

When Kai finally managed to pull out, Tyson collapsed onto the bed and rolled over on his back, waiting for Kai to lie down beside him before curling up against him. Kai idly fiddled with his hair, staring at the ceiling.

They lay in silence for a long while, just basking in each other's presence.

Tyson was just drifting off when Kai broke the silence. His voice raspy and deep, with a bit of tune leaking in, he said, "Je m'envole vers toi pour toucher ton coeur. Je m'envole vers toi pour toucher l'amour à travers les vagues du destin."

Tyson smiled against his chest, his heart swelling as he whispered the translation back to him. "I'm flying to you to touch your heart. I'm flying to you to touch love and cross the waves of destiny."

* * *

The End


End file.
